About us

In order to implement the Bologna Declaration, Flanders has adapted its legislation on higher education. The decree on the restructuring of higher education (4 April 2003) translated the Bologna principles into Flemish regulations. These introduced a dual system of professional Bachelor’s degrees and academic Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees. A key element is the cooperation between universities and university colleges  through the development of institutional partnerships. In future years, these partnerships will contribute to the creation of the European Higher Education Area.

The KU Leuven Association is based on close cooperation between KU Leuven and twelve university colleges. With more than 76, 000 students, it accounts for over 44% of the entire student population in Flemish higher education.  It is an open and dynamic network, with a strong, influential position in Flanders. The KU Leuven Association primarily aims to offer a wide range of study and training programmes and to improve the quality of education and research through intensive cooperation.

 To ensure the long-term effectiveness of their efforts, the members of the KU Leuven Association have opted for a strong decision-making and executive structure. Thus, the Association’s policy is developed by various advisory groups, which deal with  important issues such as education, research, student policy, finance, communication, internationalisation, diversity and quality management. These advisory groups have emerged from the cooperation between the institutional partners. They launch forward-looking projects which function across institutional boundaries. In the field of internationalisation, the members of the Association also strive to integrate their policies, to pool their resources and share their various areas of expertise.